A Game Of Risk
by GoWithTheFlo20
Summary: Bella/Kol. Au from newmoon. "Some people are like slinki's, not really good for anything but they put a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs. Sometimes, these people seem to be your 'soul mate'." How well could Bella handle a sociopathic ancient vampire, or more importantly how will Kol handle a person who can keep up in his little games? Game set, and match!


**AN IMPORTANT-Hello, I'm back! I know it's been awhile but life caught up with me. When i did eventually log back on, i was overwhelmed by the amount of people asking me to carry this oneshot, from my crazy 88 challenge, into a full chaptered story. Of course I've tweaked and fine tuned the one shot for ability to progress it into a story. I just want to say thanks to everyone who gave their support and opinions. So heres chapter one, basically an edited version of the oneshot but with a few clues hidden in for hints of what's to come. Please enjoy and Review!**

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 **DISCLAIMER- I OWN NOTHING, THEY BELONG TO THEIR OWN WRITERS AND CREATORS. I'M JUST PLAYING WITH SOMEONE ELSES DOLL HOUSE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

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 **PROMPT - "Some people are like slinki's, not really good for anything but they put a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs. Sometimes, these people seem to be your 'soul mate'."**

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 **Chapter one - Game Changer.**

Isabella Swan could swear to god she had done her very best to stay out of the absolute shit storm her cousins seemed to conjure up on a regular basis. Anyone who thought she was the danger magnet had obviously not seen Elena or Jeremy in action. She had nothing on either of those two.

Of course she would be unwillingly dragged kicking and screaming into the mess. They were after all the only family she had left, and with as annoying as both could be, mainly Elena when she thought about it, they were still family. If anyone was allowed to make either one kick the bucket it would be her, not some ancient family as messed up as her own was. But honestly, the things she found herself doing these days were practically an acid trip.

Battling werewolves to help recover Elenas love of her life? Trying to stop a thousand year old hybrid from sacrificing Elena? Helping save a town from a tomb full of starving vampires that resembled the cast of Micheal Jackson Thriller music video? Check to all of them. It made her feel like she was in a tacky teen supernatural drama.

She was well past her days of idiocy when she would read Romeo and Juliet, sigh dramatically and wish she could have a love like that. That isn't a love story, its a comedy of stupid kids making stupid decisions over crushes. She would know, just recalling how she had acted in the first few months of Edwards departure made her vomit slightly. Thank god she had out grown that stage.

However, the dire circumstance she found herself swept up in now was all of her own making. This she could not mentally curse on Elena or honorable but naive Jeremy. The events that lead up to Bella dragging and tugging the unmoving corpse of an ancient vampire through his own home, with his equally violent family members lurking around any corner, out into the garden in hopes of hiding his body lay surely and indisputably at her feet... and bloody Kol Mikealsons.

To make the bad even worse, this was happening at the ball his family had set up to introduce themselves to the quite insipid townsfolk. Bella couldn't have chosen a worse time for her to actually succeed in offing the irritatingly charming Mikealson.

It all began when Elena and her Scooby doo gang had came up with the brilliantly moronic idea to wake up the rest of the original family. It made Bella bewildered at their thought process and how the hell they had come to this decision. Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah were hard enough to deal with, why don't we add in another two to the already foaming mix? Bella really did wonder if anyone in Mystic Falls IQ reached double digets.

Look at them, every one of them from Damon to Caroline had gone through hell to protect their family when it mattered, why would the Mikealson be any different? Bella liked to think that no matter what, she would be there for her cousins and them for her.

The first time she had met Kol was in the parking lot of Mystic Falls high school of all places. There was not any pre-amble, no witty back and forth commentary. No, his fangs clicked and within a blink of an eye he was lunging for her throat. Without thinking Bella had lifted her hand and jammed her thumb right through his eye when he was but a hair breadth away. So close she could feel the fangs scraping the delicate skin, his breath sweeping over her shoulder and neck. The popping noise his eye made would forever remain with her.

Bella had not stayed long after that, running like a bat out of hell to her car, driving like a madwoman to her home. Tires screeching as she left Kol kneeling on the concrete, hand clutched on his eye, blood leaking down his cheek and dripping from his chin. She spared him no glimpse, only focused on getting the fuck away from a most likely pissed vampire.

It was only hours later, laying in bed relaying the days events that she realized she wasn't really scared. She was excited, adrenalin pumping away happily in her veins. Now what kind of person did that make her? She had been told so many times about her lack of survival instincts, had it practically drilled into her head, she wasn't scared of things normal people would be.

Death? Maiming? Fighting? Vampires? Werewolves? None of them rang any alarm bells. Now losing the people she loved, relying on someone and being emotionally weak like before made her want to retch in fear. Bella could only put onto one thing, she was built differently then others. Even Elena in her constant drama was scared of dying and getting hurt, it was why she fought as hard as she did. Yes, Elena may spout about how she does everything for her family and her friends, but if that was the case, she would have packed up and left. It was the only sure option of keeping them safe from the things that followed Elena. Instead, she stayed and risked everyones lives just by staying day in day out. It's what Bella would have done, what she did do to keep Charlie and Renee safe.

Bella had told them as soon as she had arrived, and figured out they knew about the supernatural world, what would follow her. But of course Elena and the Salvatores wanted her to stay and help out, after all its not everyday you meet someone who survived a cold ones bite and successfully ran from a revenged focused mate, while keeping her parents alive and out of the mess single handedly. Against her better judgment she had promised to help out with the problem, only for another to follow and then another. Until she had ended staying because to much shit was consistently hitting the proverbial fan.

The first time she had met Kol in that parking lot had been a learning curve for Bella. She hardly knew anything about this other type of vampire. When she saw him the next day at school, eye perfectly fine, she gave kudos to their healing factor and stored the knowledge for future reference. Not many things that go bump in the night could re-grow an eye, that was for sure.

It had also proved to be the start of something Bella never thought she would be mixed up in. A very dangerous game of tit for tat with a very smart, very sociopathic vampire. It only escalated as it went on, both her and Kol not willing to let the other one up them. Maybe Bella herself had sociopathic tendencies for actually willingly join this game... And dare she say enjoy it.

Two weeks after the parking lot, Kol must have tinkered with her car while she was in lessons. Bellas ears still rang when she thought of the huge explosion her car had caused before she could enter it. That day, Bella sent up a silent prayer of thanks to a god she didn't believe in to Caroline, for stopping her at the schools main entrance to talk about some redundant dance that came up. If it weren't for that simple delay, she would have been tiny pieces of organic matter splattered along the school grounds. She didn't need to wonder who had done it, didn't need to make up a list of suspects because the smirk Kol sent her when he spotted her alive and breathing was telling enough.

Bella got her own back. It was the name of the game after all. On a visit to the Grille, Bella 'accidently' brushed up against Kols car the following week when he was looking. So when he was ready to drive home, he wouldn't think twice about her scent being in his car. When he was busy chatting up women at the bar, Bella snuck out, broke into his car and laced the whole thing with Vervain bombs.

None of Elenas friends questioned her when she demanded they sit down and eat at a window table, which coincidentally had the perfect view of Kols car.

The way Bella saw it, if he wanted her to get blown to smithereens, no one could blame her for wanting to see his face melt off. It all happened so fast that Bella wished she had a real life re-wind button to see it all over again and again. The bombs went of as planned when he sat in his car and initiated the engine. His shout of pain was loud enough to seep through the brick and glass of the Grille. Elijah and Klaus had ran out to find their youngest brother on the floor next to his car. Smoke rising off of him in little plumes as he desperately tried to swipe at his red raw skin. Bella wanted to laugh and take a photo.

After a few moments of joyfully watching Kol in agony, he looked up and straight at her. Something dark and tantalizing set deeply in his eyes. His two brothers doing the same but with a confused expression instead. Bella couldn't blame them. She had never outright attacked any of them before tonight. She had even had a few pleasant conversations with Elijah.

Kols jaw was clenched taught in anger or pain, she couldn't tell which one. Bella rose one eyebrow and smirked. Slowly rising her hand she mockingly waved at the vampire still perched on the floor. Turning back around into the Grille, she was met with shocked and frightened faces. Bella shrugged it off, they wouldn't understand, she hardly did and she was the one who was playing this game.

Elena, Damon or Stephan would some how turn this all around to Bella some how endangering Elena by pissing of Kol. They wouldn't see they had been doing this for a while and Kol hadn't once stepped foot near Elena in retaliation. Just like Bella hadn't gone for Elijah, Klaus or Rebekah. This, whatever it was, was between the two of them. Bella was damn sure no one else was going to get dragged in, otherwise they would have been when Bella put her thumb through his eye.

Their little game had carried on for another two months. Then the Ball rolled around. She was enjoying herself for once, speaking and mingling with the other guests. Bella would admit it was not her smartest move going to the ball where she knew an immortal that wanted her maimed or killed would be. But she couldn't refuse, especially when her own personal invite came through her door, signed by Kol himself. Bella liked risks and she hadn't lost their game yet.

Breaking away from the crowd, she wondered off, looking at all the priceless pieces of artwork that decorated the walls. Some of them were absolutely stunning, but she couldn't recognize the artist who had only signed the corner with a K. Turning down another hallway, she spotted Kol and his cornered prey, both precariously close to a winding staircase.

Matt was a lovely person, kind and loyal to a fault. Seeing him backed up against the wall while Kol broke his hand bone by bone, snapped something inside her. Without much thought or caution, Bella charged and before she knew it Kol was tumbling and crashing down the stairs in front of them. His eyes wide with shock as he caught a glimpse of her, obviously not expecting for Bella to get the jump on him. The final crack as he fell to the bottom on the hard marbled flooring echoed around the desolate hallway.

Both Matt and Bella went zooming after him, Bella being slower in her hopes of not tripping and following Kols example. When they finally reached the bottom, Bella didn't know what to do. She had never seen Kol so... Still. It didn't seem right. It wasn't correct to see him as anything but in his normal devil may care attitude.

"His neck is broken."

Bella took in a shaky breath and tried to steady her rapidly beating heart. Any second now her heart was going to jump right out of chest, reminiscent of that alien scene that frightened the living daylights out of her. Glancing down she took in the sharp right angle his neck sat in.

"Is he dead? As in dead, dead?"

Matt paced back and forth, stealing glances of the body that lay between them in odd turns and angles. Bella stole herself, refusing to look down. Maybe if she pretended it wasn't Kol on the floor, her breathing might right itself. It was worth a try at least.

"I have no idea. I don't know much about vampires to be honest. Maybe? I think so. He isn't moving and he looks dead. Well, more dead than before."

At Matts proclamation, Bella ran a shaky hand down her face. It couldn't be that easy to kill him right? She had seen him return from worse than this, had inflicted worse than a good shove down the stairs. Any minute now he would pop back up, scare the shit out of her and then get even. It was what they did.

Bella never thought she would actually kill him in their back and forth game. The odds were stacked against her, not him. Sure it was a slight possibility, but she never saw it coming. Now that the out come was right in front of her, she didn't want him dead, didn't want their game to stop. As sick and twisted as this all was, she enjoyed their witty banter... Enjoyed him. Yes, that was definitely bile she could feel rising up her esophagus.

Steeling herself and standing up straight she faced a severely worried Matt. She was in a house full of Kols family, if any one of them came across his dead body it was her and Matt that would immediately follow, then the rest of the Scooby gang for good measure. Klaus was anything but forgiving, and Matt and the rest didn't deserve to pay for her crime.

"Matt listen, go back to the party. Act normal, like nothings wrong. I'll sort... This... out."

Matt still a bit dazed from the whole ordeal, broken hand firmly grasped to his chest, robotically nodded and stumbled out of view. Bella waited until his footsteps faded out of hearing range.

Pretending it was someone else, Bella leant down and hoisted Kols upper body up. Arms wrapped around his torso, she started dragging and tugging him the opposite way Matt went. The last thing she needed was to drag Kols corpse into the ball room and show off her prize to his family and guests. While she was at it, she may aswell cut her own heart out and hand it to Klaus, save him the time from ripping it from her chest.

Plans formed and unformed in her mind. God, she had no idea what to do. Plus dragging dead weight in a silken ball gown was not the easiest of tasks. On auto pilot, Bella managed to get his body out of the house and into the wooded area surrounding Mikealson mansion. She only got a few feet into the woods before she could no longer drag him through the rocky terrain. Bella lowered him gently to the moss covered floor, staring at his still immobile form.

Bella stumbled away from the body and tumbled out of the woods and into the houses grounds again. Leaning against a tree she tried to regulate her breathing, she could feel a panic attack coming on. What had she done? She had killed Kol. KILLED KOL. Bella didn't have the time to contemplate her raging thoughts as a voice broke her out of her spiraling panic.

"Miss Swan, are you okay?"

Like an elastic band, Bella slammed back to herself and straightened out her hunched form, taking in Elijahs immaculate suit. This was one of the last people she wanted to see right now. Or ever again, sure her death would soon follow if it ever came to pass. She may not be scared of death, but that did not mean she wished for it either.

"Fine. Perfectly fine. I just... My... My car has no fuel in it. I think it was a joke from Ko-..."

Bellas voice broke off. She couldn't say his name, not even to his brother. No matter how hard she tried to push it past her lips, it never dislodged itself from her tongue. Instead choosing to form a painful lump in her throat.

"Wait here. I will go get you some. I believe we have a few spare Jerry cans back in the house."

With a blur and a muted swoosh Elijah was gone. She wondered if he would be so accommodating if he knew his little brothers dead body was right behind them, hidden by a bush of all things. Bella felt a headache like no other coming on, not in the short nineteen years she had graced this earth anyhow.

Elijah came back in seconds, handing Bella a red can filled with liquid. Not trusting her voice Bella nodded her thanks, hoping he would just zoom back of again. When he showed no signs of leaving, Bella spoke in husky words.

"I thing i need a few moments of fresh air. You should head back to the party, who knows what's going on with out the level headed Mikealson present."

 _Like a human pushing a vampire down the stairs and then trying to hide the body in the woods_ , Bella mentally added. The grimace on her face couldn't be halted.

After one more probing look, Elijah nodded and left Bella to it. Instead of making a dash to her car and trying to leave the state by tonight, her feet had a mind of their own and Bella found herself leaning over Kols Body. Not thinking, Bella popped the cap on the can and started dousing the body in the extremely flammable fluid. The smell making her nose crinkle a bit.

Bella threw the empty can somewhere to her left, hearing the ding as it bounced of a tree. Reaching into her bra, she pulled out an old worn zippo lighter. It used to be her fathers until he gave it to her before she left, his last gift to her. She kept it on her always, fire seemed to kill everything. It was a handy tool when your life revolved around things and people ten times stronger than you.

The flame came blazing to life on the third turn of the wheel. Bella stared into the orange flickering flame. It didn't click that Kol was gone. Falling down the stairs was the answer to getting rid of originals? If she lived to see tomorrow, she would have to tell Elena this tidbit of information.

A sickening snap nearly made her drop the lighter onto Kol but she managed to keep it in her grasp. Bella stared, wide eyed, as Kols neck clicked back into place. His eyes popped open and he took a deep breath through his nose.

He ran a hand through his hair, looking bewilderedly before sniffing at the wetness. Then his eyes zeroed in on her and she cursed herself, she should have ran while she could have. He glanced down at the lit lighter in her hands, the orange flame making his and her skin glow in the dark light of night.

Slowly but surely, an ominous grin spread across his face, making Bella want to punch him or drop the light and watch him go up in ash.

"You about to set me on fire darling?"

Bella plastered on an annoyed face, when inside she was screaming relief. God forbid she let him even get an inkling of this though, who knows what he would do with that type of information.

"I thought i had finally gotten rid of you."

All Kol did was incline his head to the left a fraction, resembling a curious puppy. Bella knew better. He could rip her up faster than any Rottweiler had he really wished to. Which in itself was confusing, seen as that was exactly what they had been attempting to do to each other for the last two months. Maybe Kol wasn't trying to full out murder her. Bella adamantly pushed that thought away. It led to possibilities and conclusions she was not ready to be led to. Maybe another day, week or year.

"You devious little thing you. Killing me at my own party and then deciding to try and hide the body, in my families own back garden. Tut, tut, tut, what would your friends say?"

Kol said as he got up and tried to dust himself off, the fuel making the twigs and leaves cling to him, he eventual stopped when he realized it was pointless.

Bella flicked the lighter shut with a clang.

"They would congratulate me. Who knows? I might win a Nobel peace prize!"

Kol crossed his arms over his chest, leaning sideways against a tree, staring unflinchingly at her. Bella fought the urge to fidget, it was always a battle with Kol. Her fidgeting would only egg him on.

"I was right all along. You know, you would make a marvelous vampire. I've never sired anyone before, unlike my siblings. I'm pretty sure i can make an exception for you though."

Bella glazed over the deadly serious tone his voice held and scoffed. Rolling her eyes, she turned and started walking towards her car. She had enough excitement for one day and all she wanted was a nice relaxing bubble bath. It sounded like heaven right then.

"Don't be stupid Kol. You're covered in gas and i still have a lighter. Breaking your neck might not keep you down, but I'm pretty sure setting you ablaze would. Want to give my theory a test?"

Bella smirked as she strolled to her car, shouting behind her. She could hear Kols laughter from behind her.

Climbing into her car and setting off, Bellas relaxed. Yes their game of tit for tat had changed dramatically tonight. Whatever it had morphed into was a lot more dangerous, or it had always been like this and Bella had only spotted it now. Just more questions for tomorrow. One thing was for sure, Bella loved risks and Kol was the biggest risk out there.


End file.
